a town in the Netherlands, in the province of Brabant, remarkable for its abbey of canonesses. Here is a manufacture of cambrics, and the town enjoys great privileges. The abbey just mentioned is inhabited by young ladies of the first quality, who are not confined therein as in nunneries, but may go out and marry whenever they see convenient, or a proper match offers. It contained 6537 inhabitants in 1800. E. Long. 4° 36'. N. Lat. 50° 35'.

NIVELLE de la Chaussee (Peter Claude), a comic poet, born in Paris; acquired great reputation by inventing a new kind of entertainment, which was called the Weeping Comedy. Instead of imitating Aristophanes, Terence, Moliere, and the other celebrated comic poets who had preceded him; and instead of exciting laughter by painting the different ridiculous characters, giving strokes of humour and absurdities in conduct; he applied himself to represent the weaknesses of the heart, and to touch and soften it. In this manner he wrote five comedies: 1. La fausse Antipathie. 2. Le prejuge a la Mode; this piece met with great success. 3. Melanide. 4. Amour pour Amour; and, 5. L'Ecole des Meres. He was received into the French academy in 1736; and died at Paris in 1754, at 63 years of age. He also wrote a tragedy, entitled Maximianus; and an epistle to Clio, an ingenious didactic poem.